The California Highway Patrol has released the names of two persons of interest in last week’s fatal hit-and-run. Marcia Maelinda Kitchen, mother of one of the deceased, and Joshua Wren Pearlston, her boyfriend, are both being sought for questioning.
Kitchen is the registered owner of the Jeep involved in the collision. The CHP say they have made multiple attempts to contact the couple but they “have not made themselves to investigators and their whereabouts are unknown.”
In its press release, the CHP confirmed that Kitchen’s attorney, Benjamin Okin, made contact with law enforcement after the Jeep’s discovery. The 2015 grey Jeep Wrangler was found behind a gate in a fenced backyard in Kitchen’s home, just down the road from where her 14-year old daughter and her daughter’s friend were struck and killed.
Previously:
The California Highway Patrol has located the grey Jeep believed to have been involved in a hit and run accident Tuesday night that left two teenage girls dead. The vehicle was found behind a closed fence in the backyard of the residence of one of the victim’s families when police served a search warrant on the property yesterday afternoon.
CHP officer Cy May said a suspect has been identified as the potential driver in the case but remains at large, whereabouts unknown. May said CHP is not releasing the identity of the suspect at this time, and declined to comment on whether the suspect is related to one of the victims. CHP is also declining to release the identities or ages of the victims at this time.
Eureka Attorney Ben Okin, reached by phone this morning, said he is representing the suspect in the case and that, through him, she made contact with police yesterday. “We made contact with law enforcement,” Okin said. “They didn’t know who she was. We made contact with them. … As far as I know, at the time we made contact on the driver’s behalf, law enforcement didn’t have any information on the identity of the driver. That (call) is what led to them being able to serve the search warrant. It wasn’t something they discovered, as far as I know.”
“We offered to turn the driver in,” Okin continued, “but law enforcement wants to do some more investigation before they make a formal arrest.”
Okin declined to identify his client, saying he’s “leaving it to law enforcement to decide the appropriate time to do that” as their investigation moves forward.
The accident occurred around 9:15 p.m. Tuesday, when a southbound vehicle on Eel River Drive hit two young teenagers who were skateboarding northbound in the southbound lane. The vehicle then fled the scene, reportedly heading eastbound on Drake Hill Road, according to CHP’s initial press release. The vehicle CHP found and seized yesterday was in a backyard on Becker Lane, which is off Eel River Drive, south from Drake Hill Road and about a mile from the accident scene.
May said it was a combination of community tips and investigators in the field that led CHP to the Becker Lane residence. He said nobody was at the home when police arrived, but officers were able to obtain a search warrant for the property in order to seize the vehicle, which was found behind a closed fence in the backyard and had damage matching wreckage found at the accident scene.
“It’s still an active investigation and we’re still putting the pieces together,” May said, adding that he’s grateful to community members who have stepped forward to aid the investigation, both in reporting the initial crash and then helping investigators locate the vehicle involved.
Editor’s note: This story was updated from a previous version to more accurately reflect where the Jeep was found on the Becker Lane property.
This article appears in Humboldt Responds.
The home where the jeep was found is where one of the girls lives, it was her mom’s jeep. How can a mom hit her daughter, and her daughters friend and leave? Now she is in hiding. She wants all the OMG’s from people who don’t know she is the reason for their deaths. There is no reason on earth why you leave someone to die. It is flat out murder
I agree with Becky not only did she not stop she covered the vehicle with a tarp to hide it. The police should have put a warrant out for her arrest. They got a tip on were the vehicle was she didn’t come forward on her own. And now she’s in hiding and not in jail wow.
She was in mourning over the death of her daughter…the one she caused. Wow!
I’m a mother and I couldn’t imagine doing what this lady has done to her child and her friend. I live farely close to where this happened and this breaks my heart for the poor girls and to know there are people like her on the loose. She deserves to go to jail for murder. It is starting to sound like she ran her daughter down. Isn’t that considered premeditated
How do you guys know the mom isn’t covering for her teen son? As a mom myself I would like to think if it truly was the mom that she would have stopped.
Ya’ll are a bunch of self-righteous asshats! This is an EXTREMELY SENSITIVE issue and unusual case that doesn’t warrant assumptions and/or judgments. Yes, we can assume what we might think happened, yet the truth hasn’t been released to my knowledge. There’s SO MUCH HATE in the world, why not try to step back and have empathy for all involved.
It was her daughter and her niece… She deserves all the backlash she has coming…period..
First of all the police report said the jeep was not covered it was just in the backyard. As fior the rest how dare you flap your jaws and pass judgement you dont know what happened and you dont know if it was the son or not. If my son accidently did this bet your butt id take the fall for him It was a tragic accident. And these families will have to deal with it the rest of there lives So keep your higher then might attitudes and opinons to yourself and show some compassion for there families
All I see in the foregoing posts is presumptions and speculations…just read a post from the CHP that they are NOT releasing information yet about the identity of the suspect….even if you live next door and think you know more than anyone else and make comments about the mother of one of the victims YOU ARE OUT OF LINE and are putting this investigation in jeopardy….until the CHP releases their findings it is best to keep your mouth closed….and not share rumors and speculations with anyone…if you know something DO NOT post it in comments like this but get in touch with the CHP or the Fortuna Police Dept…..REMEMBER we all want JUSTICE for these 2 young girls but starting gossip or sharing what you THINK you know is causing more harm than good….follow the CHP’s updates and let them know if you DO know something about this horrible and sad situation…..Just wanted to share my thinking…..
Facts are (according to police reports thus far), that the Jeep came from one of the victims’ homes at Becker Lane. The driver fled the scene of the crime, drove home and parked the vehicle in the backyard. Police located the Jeep and spoke to the suspect. An investigation is underway. A couple bloggers want to put a lid on discussing this horrific event, but based on what we know, an assumption or two can be made; it appears that the drivers’ actions were deliberate. Exactly who the driver was and what their motivation was remains to be seen.
Michael Campbell I admire your idea of taking the fall for your child but what good does that do? Now when he buys a rifle and shoots up a school are you going to take the fall or are you going to let him take the fall and maybe get the help he would need if that was the situation…as far as what’s going on its terrible downright evil but let’s wait for facts before we fight and do all this bullshit this isn’t what these dead girls would want they’d want justice and not people fighting over who’s the better parent or who is right and who is wrong!
Why has the quote been changed? It originally had the lawyer referring to his client as “she” and “her”. And also when you try to “like” a comment on here it automatically shows as “dislike”….
Whoever was driving that Jeep needs life in prison, under no circumstances should they have left those girls on the side of the road to die…own up!!
Is this being Botched? Why are they letting the Lawyer call the shots? Why arent they putting out a warrant for the owner of the car? All they keep saying is that they want to make sure they are thorough. Holy crap just arrest the person who owns the vehicle for starters. Why are they letting the suspects call the shots? Seriously?
So this tragedy happened last week and still nothing??? No arrests?? What on earth is going on? Something strange. The CHP are saying thry don’t know the suspect’s whereabouts…the lawyer says “she” was going to turn herself in…but didnt and now there are no updates and nothing on the news??? What…is this all going to get swept under the rug?? Does anyone else think this is pretty strange??
They will find them. It’s just a matter of time. The police are not going to comment on an investigation. I am sure they are doing a thorough investigation to get the facts so the case is a solid one before arresting anyone. All this supposition is just that supposition. Pointless. If you know something anything contact the police.
The police have had all the facts for some time, and if they haven’t made an arrest by now there has to be a problem. Once an arrest and charges made, we need to know why all of this took so long.